Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Birchwood Tales ("we," "us," or "our") operates the story library at stories.birchwoodtales.com. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have over it. It applies to your use of the Birchwood Tales story library. For the physical Tommy the Bear product purchased at birchwoodtales.com, please refer to the privacy policy on that site.

Questions? Email us at support@birchwoodtales.com.

2. What we collect and why

We only collect what we need to run the service.

3. Children's privacy (COPPA)

Birchwood Tales creates audio stories for children. Our service is designed to be used by parents and guardians — not by children directly. You must be 18 or older to create an account. We do not market to, solicit, or knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

What we collect — and what we don't

When you create an account, we ask for your name and email address. That's it. We do not ask for:

• Your child's name, age, or date of birth
• Your child's photo or likeness
• Your child's school, location, or any other identifying information
• Any information about who is listening to the stories

The only information we collect is the account holder's (parent or guardian's) name, email address, and the listening activity associated with their account. We have no way of knowing — and do not ask — who in your household is listening.

How we use it

We use your account information to manage your subscription and communicate with you. We use aggregate listening data (which stories are played, completion rates) to improve the library. We do not use any data to build profiles of children, and we do not share data with third parties for commercial or advertising purposes.

Parental rights

As the account holder, you have full control over your account and all data associated with it. You may at any time:

• Review the personal information we hold about you
• Correct your name or email from your Account page
• Request complete deletion of your account and all associated data

If you believe any personal information has been submitted to us without proper consent, or if you have any concern about how your data is handled, contact us at support@birchwoodtales.com. We will respond within 5 business days and resolve the matter promptly.

See Section 7 for full details on exercising your rights.

4. How we use your information

• To create and manage your account
• To process subscription payments and send billing confirmations
• To send required renewal reminder emails (30 days before each billing date)
• To provide access to the story library based on your subscription status
• To track listening activity for your personal history and our aggregate analytics
• To respond to your support requests
• To notify you of important changes to the service or these policies

We do not use your information for advertising. We do not sell your information to third parties. We do not build advertising profiles.

5. Who we share your information with

We share your data with as few third parties as possible:

We may also disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of Birchwood Tales or its users.

6. How we protect your information

• All data is transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections
• Passwords are hashed — we never store them in plain text
• Card data is never stored on our servers — handled entirely by Stripe
• Database access is protected by row-level security policies
• We use environment variables for all credentials — none are stored in code

7. Your rights and choices

You have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correct — update your name or email from your Account page at any time
• Delete — request deletion of your account and all associated personal data
• Cancel — cancel your subscription at any time from your Account page
• Opt out of renewal reminders — contact us, though note these are legally required under Utah law

To exercise any of these rights, email support@birchwoodtales.com. We will respond within 30 days. California residents have additional rights under the CCPA — see Section 8.

8. California residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect and how it is used
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Opt out of the sale of your personal information — we do not sell personal information
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights

To submit a request, email support@birchwoodtales.com with the subject line "California Privacy Request."

9. Data retention

We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, we will delete your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or tax purposes (such as billing records, which we retain for 7 years as required by law).

10. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required for authentication and session management. We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics cookies. No cookie consent banner is required because we do not use non-essential cookies.

11. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect. The date at the top of this page reflects when the policy was last updated.

12. Governing law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Utah. Nothing in this policy limits your rights under applicable consumer protection or privacy laws in your state of residence.

13. Contact us

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns:

Birchwood Tales
support@birchwoodtales.com